And Gregor wasn’t lying about looking for something in the library. You would think that with such a small library he would know where everything was. Jason however learns upon them entering the library that there is more to it than expected. What had looked like normal shelves soon prove otherwise, as magical runes light up and they start to rise upward. The books on the top shift back and out of the way for the ones below.

And it isn’t even just a simple doubling of shelf space as the books keep rotating out well past the time that Jason expected the original books to come back into view. Clearly there is a lot more space hidden within the shelves than Jason could have ever guessed. Still, he isn’t here to look for a book. While he was willing to wait for Gregor to find what he had come in here for, it now seemed like that might take more time than he was willing to waste.

With a cough Jason asks, “So, I’ve been working on my Energy. Something I plan to do is going to require an absolutely massive amount of the stuff so I went in search of how to get more. Apparently I currently have the capability to channel more of the stuff and all that will take is some training which I already figured out from the book I borrowed.”

“The problem is that I can see the limit of how much Energy I can have in the short term and it is too low. I don’t know how it is for Mana and Qi cores, but my Energy core determines the max amount I can channel. Is there a way to improve my core? It does seem to passively get cultivated with time but despite me having nothing but time at this point, I’m in a bit of a rush.”

Gregor nods as he watches the books cycle through his shelves, “I can confirm that Mana and Qi cores are connected to the size of the power’s pool. With that in mind, of course, there are numerous ways to expand and improve a core. The problem for you is that most of those are not meant for Energy cores.”

“In fact, even the passive improvement method for Mana and Qi cores differs from Energy cores. After all, Mana and Qi make use of a pool and so many of the methods involve getting the pool to stretch and accommodate that little bit more. There is, of course the danger of bursting a pool, but that is actually quite hard to do with just your own personal resources. Such dangers generally come from using things like medicines and such to give an unnatural boost.”

“Now despite the fact that I don’t have an Energy core improvement technique, I have one method you should be able to use. This is an ancient method though and in this case, old doesn’t mean mysterious and powerful. Rather, it is slow and steady. There are no hidden secrets. All the methods of improving the technique have been tapped. This might not be the very original method of improving a core, but it is definitely one of the oldest still in use.”

Jason nods, “While I would like to improve quickly that doesn’t mean I want to ruin my future prospects. If this is what you have for me I assume the more public libraries won’t do me much good.”

Gregor laughs, “They’d do you the same once you’ve proven you have a core. The name of the technique is Basic Core Refinement and though you might find it under slightly different names, this is the technique everyone has. In fact, I’m a little surprised you weren’t given a copy when you originally formed your core. Though that might just mean your mentor was part of the natural development belief camp. That or they also didn’t get a copy. No matter how common, some people will still slide through the cracks. Maybe send them a message to see which it is.”

“Anyway, the basic principle of this technique is right in the name, refinement. When you form a core it gathers up what was loose power and puts it in one place to make the power easier to use. At the same time, though, the core becomes the thing that determines the nature of your power. If someone finds a method of making their core ice aligned, then their power will naturally be aligned towards ice and cold.”

“Most Mana and Qi techniques focus on increasing the capacity of the core. This leads to a simple one-to-one growth. Increase the core size by one and you have one more Mana or Qi to use. Energy cores can’t use this sort of cheat because it doesn’t use a pool. No matter how much Energy your core can hold is meaningless if you aren’t also gaining that much Energy at the same time. In fact, it will actually hurt your ability to make use of it.”

“Mana and Qi can be seen as a trough of water. They can use their power a bucket at a time and eventually it will empty. For them, a bigger trough just means the longer they can go without refilling it. Energy, however, is like a flow of water. It starts out as a small flow and over time the flow increases. From a creak to a river. What increasing your core would be like is adding a dam to the river that has to fill up before the water can continue. This messes up the flow and creates problems down the line.”

“Basic Core Refinement on the other hand focuses on the fact that changing the core, changes the power. So instead of creating a bigger pool it makes the power worth more. Because unlike water, the powers can be condensed, refined, and just made better in general. Going back to the river analogy, this is like increasing the flow. You don’t technically have more water in the river at any point. Yet you still end up with more Energy in the end.”

Then Gregor coughs, “Though uh, this is basically all explained in the techniques book. I wanted to give you a little primer and I seem to have gotten a little caught up in it. Anyway, I pulled the book out when it was going by so here you are. And even though technique is quite common, I would like the book back before you leave. I’ve made some notes in the margins from when I studied the technique and I don’t want to have to redo it all.”